The Good Stuff:

To say that Davidoff has really stepped their game up the last few years is an understatement. They have been kicking out fantastic new cigars left and right with little signs of slowing down. An extension to the AVO Syncro series called the AVO Syncro South America Ritmo is one of the newest offerings the brand has shipped to retailers. The goal of the Ritmo was to utilize tobacco from seven different countries to reach the highest, most intense flavor offered within the AVO portfolio. The cigar features an Ecuadorian wrapper, Mexican Binder and fillers from Brazil, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Peru, and Nicaragua. The cigar is offered in four size: Robusto (5 x 50), Toro (6 x 54), Special Toro (6 x 60), and the Torpedo Largo (7 x 54). Each size comes packaged in boxes of 20 and runs between $10.90 to $13.90 a stick. I purchased mine over from our friends at Ford on Fifth.

Size: 5 x 54
Wrapper: Ecuadorian
Binder: Mexican
Filler: Brazilian / Dominican / Honduran / Peruvian / Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $10.90
Pairing: Alesmith Grand Cru (Belgian Strong Dark Ale 10% ABV)

Prelight:

The AVO Syncro South America Ritmo starts out with a gorgeous, dark brow and orangish brown wrapper. The cigar is covered in rustic looking inconsistencies in color along with some areas of very dark brown splotches scattered through the wrapper leaf. You can see some nice dark natural webbing in the leaf as well as a few mild veins running through the course of the cigar’s body. The wrapper feels very thin a brittle but carries an incredible amount of both grainy tooth and oils. The cigar features a soft-box press format with a nice round double cap. The cigar is polished off with a gorgeous teal, orange, white and black wrapper that carries the standard AVO crest as well as the words “South America” on it. There is also a secondary team band that simply states “RITMO” across the front. The cigar feels very heavy and extremely tightly packed which I hope doesn’t result in any plugging.

The wrapper on The AVO Syncro South America Ritmo gives off a lot of earthy, mossy, natural tobacco aromas while the foot of the cigar carries a bit more spice and oak over mostly the same earthy, natural tobacco aromas. The cap cut clean and like butter using my Palio XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a ton of sweet spice, honey, earthiness and a great mixture of naked woods.

First Third:

The AVO Syncro South America Ritmo starts out with vanilla, oak, honey, sweet spice, a bit of tartness of my lips and tongue as well as a little bit of black licorice. While I was expecting the draw to be tight, it was as fluid as it could get. Each tiny puff kicked out massive clouds of thick, white smoke which quickly dissipated as it reached my ceiling fan while the cigar itself released a standard amount of stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is pretty even, and razor sharp leaving behind a tightly compacted trail of light and medium gray ash which held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of The AVO Syncro South America Ritmo and the tartness has started to overtake the cigar, but not in a good way. I just hope it doesn’t last too long as I really enjoyed the flavors that developed early on. Underneath the tartness is still some oak, vanilla, and spice, but anything else is pretty much lost at this point. I really hope that the flavors can come back in this thing cause I was really digging how this cigar started. The retrohale helps though as it coats my nasal passage with the sweetness and spice I picked up early on. The cigar is still burning beautifully as I close out the second third with a tiny little nicotine kick.

Finish:

As I wished for the tartness to fade out in The AVO Syncro South America Ritmo it just kept pouring it on and it has now completely took over the experience. I still get a bit of vanilla and a bit of oak, but that’s just about it. It took me an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub and quite frankly I thought about putting it down about 20 minutes ago. I just wanted to hold out just to make sure I wasn’t missing something.

Overview:

I really wanted to like The AVO Syncro South America Ritmo. I have been on a huge AVO kick lately but this one just didn’t perform on par with some of the previous Syncro releases. The flavors started out incredible, but quickly took a turn for the worse when the overwhelming tartness took over the flavor profile. It almost seems like the tartness was the outcome of faulty blending but I smoked 3 of these cigars, all of which ended up the same. I can’t say I’d really recommend these cigars, but what I will do is stash a few away and see if aging them a bit helps the tartness fade out.

Pairing:

I decided to pair The AVO Syncro South America Ritmo with a beer that is heavy on the sweetness and very bold body in an attempt to help the cigar out. Alesmith’s Grand Cru is an 10% ABV Belgian style strong dark ale brewed at the Alesmith brewery in San Diego, California. The beer leads with a ton of sweetness, cajeta, caramel, malt, a bit of hop, slight bitterness, and some rich apple flavors with a very light mouthfeel before finishing crisp with more apple and sweetness, spice, and malt. This is such a good beer and it did in fact help lend a hand to the The AVO Syncro South America Ritmo experience but in the end it just wasn’t enough.

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The Good Stuff:

Cubanacan is a company who has slowly crept their way into our humidors over the course of the last few years. In the recent year the company has really stepped their game up in terms of sales force and have been focusing on getting their cigars into the hands of smokers who haven’t been witness to the brand before in the past. I for one, would love to see more of these cigars in our very mass-market filled area. Cubanacan is responsible for four different brands. The core, Cubanacan lines, HR, Soneros, Mederos. and Here is a bit of history on the company taken from their website:

As long as there have been people, there have been stories. From the stories told in paintings on ancient caves to the family stories shared around the table, stories make up our history and guide our traditions. Cubanacan cigars embraces not only tradition, but strives to tell our story in every cigar.

Our tale begins in the rich tobacco history of Cuba. As the stories of tradition and quality were passed from generation to generation, that tradition was carried forward to the fertile soil of Esteli and Jalapa Nicaragua in 2006 where we started to grow our own tobacco. Shortly after we established our factory in Esteli with just five pairs of rollers set out to create cigars that will share our story with the world.

The name Cubanacan was chosen for it’s vibrant history and the story behind it’s meaning. Cubanacan means “where fertile land is abundant” and is derived from tobacco traditions that predate Cuba itself. The story of Cubanacan is not just one of our past, but one that is still being written.

Our goal is not just to be the storyteller, but to have each person that enjoys our cigar help write the next part of our tale. A story of tradition, pride in our quality, and an appreciation for those that carry our story forward.

The Cubanacan Maduro starts out with an Ecuadorian Oscuro wrapper over a Ecuadorian Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers from both the Jalapa and Esteli regions. The cigars all comes in boxes of 20 and are offered in six different formats: Chatos (4.5 x 42), Rothchilds (5 x 50), Piramide (6.12 x 52), Gordo (6 x 60), Churchills (7 x 50) and the Lonsdale (6.5 x 42) which range from $5.90 to $8.90 a stick. Nate McIntyre, the Eastern US Sales Manager for Cubanacan was kind enough to hook us up with a few of the Rothchilds for review.

Size: 5 x 50
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Oscuro
Binder: Ecuadorian Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan from Jalapa and Esteli
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $6.90
Pairing: Ballast Point Victory at Sea (Imperial Porter 10% ABV)

Prelight:

The Cubanacan Maduro carried ones of the most beautiful wrappers I have ever seen. It starts with a very rich, dark, consistent brown wrapper with some great almost-black webbing scattered throughout the leaf. The wrapper gleams of oils along it’s toothy, sandpaper-like texture. The wrapper itself is very thick, and very hard while the cigar has almost no give as I squeeze it between my fingers. There are a few softer areas around the foot of the cigar, but nothing concerning. The Cubanacan Maduro is polished off with a perfectly round double cap and a black, white, and copper label sporting the “Cubanacan” crest. Some of the past Maduro blends I have seen carry the standard white label, but all the rothchilde formats that I have seen carry the black. I’m not sure if this is a size differential or if Cubanacan will carry the black labels on the Maduro line going forward. Either way, both bands carry the wording “Maduro” just underneath the crest so you’ll know exactly what you’re smoking.

The wrapper on the Cubanacan Maduro unleashed a massively pungent mixture of deep wood and natural tobacco while the foot of the cigar has a much spicier/peppery character. The cap cut clean and easy using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a really musky mixture of strong tobacco, deep spice, and lots of oakiness.

First Third:

The Cubanacan Maduro starts out with a nice pepper splash which quickly quiets down revealing some deep oakiness, lots of spice, raisin, coffee, and some musky leather. The draw is perfect despite being extremely tightly packed. Each puff releases a massive cloud of thick, white smoke. The Cubanacan Maduro also unleashes tons of stationary smoke as you can actually see the cigar burning the oils off the wrapper as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor sharp and dead even leaving behind a trail of compacted medium gray ash which held on for a little over an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Cubanacan Maduro and the flavors are still rocking away leading with some bold spice, musk, leather and coffee while some nice toffee has come into play with an oaky finish. The retrohale was a lot shaper than I was expecting as it coats my nasal passage with a sharp spice and tons of leather and oak. A Few larger waves have started to form towards the end of the second third, but nothing worth pulling my lighter out for. I venture into the final third with a nice little nicotine kick already present.

Finish:

The further I get into the Cubanacan Maduro the deeper and richer the flavors become. Into the final third the cigar pumps out deep musk and spice over dark chocolate, coffee, and caramel. The pepper has been trying to fight it’s way back into the mix too but it’s very subtle. I smoked this bad boy down to the very nub and experience no harshness at all. The burn line finished rather clean and sharp and despite a few waves I never once had to reach for my lighter. This is a bold, and powerful cigar that left me with a decent nicotine kick after the hour and a half it took to smoke it.

Overview:

I wasn’t expecting the Cubanacan Maduro to be as strong as it was, and it was a pleasant surprise. The cigar offers a great balance of bold flavors, and strength without going overboard in either direction. The flavors are just complex enough to keep me on my toes, but not overdone. The smoking experience is top-notch while the price point is well under what I’d shell out for the stick making it very box-worthy and a welcomed addition to my regular rotation. Now let’s get these in my local shops yeah?

Pairing:

Ballast Point’s Victory at Sea isn’t a stranger to Casas Fumando. It’s probably one of my favorite all-time porters, and one of my favorite beers in general to pair with cigars. The Victory at Sea is a 10% ABV Imperial Porter brewed with coffee and vanilla at the Ballast Point brewery in San Diego California. It’s a deep porter leading with some subtle tartness, spice, roasted malt, and very sweet coffee with a light mouthfeel finishing crisp and sweet with milk and vanilla and a coffee aftertaste. The spice, tart, coffee and malt paired wonderfully with the existing flavors in the Cubanacan Maduro while the sweetness added more greatness to an already great cigar.

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The Good Stuff: Ezra Zion is a boutique company that has made some massive waves in the cigar community over the past few years. Heck, even out own Jeremy Hensley rated the Tantrum one of his top cigars of 2013 and Daniel enjoyed his experience with the Reagan. The boys over at Ezra Zion have been kicking out stellar cigars for the past few years now and because of that they recently celebrated that they have teamed up with the House of Emilio in an agreement to let Gary Griffith handle their distribution making their cigars much more accessible to us, the cigar community. The Eminence is the first non-Nicaraguan Puro they have released showcasing a Mexican San Andreas wrapper. Manufactured at the Tabacos Valle de Jalapa S.A. factory, the Eminence will come in boxes of 21 featuring 6 different sizes: Belicoso Gran Toro (5 x 58), the Gran Prensado (7 x 42), the Exquisito (6.25 x 52), the Churchill (7 x 48), the Corona (6 x 46), and the Robusto (5.25 x 50) ranging from $11.50 to $12.50 a stick and are already on store shelves across the U.S..

Size: 7 x 54
Wrapper: Mexican San Andreas
Binder: Dual Binder Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $12.50
Pairing: Ballast Point Victory at Sea (Imperial Porter 10% ABV)

Prelight: The first thing you notice about the Eminence is just how incredibly dark the wrapper is. It’s as dark brown as you can get before it becomes black. The color is incredibly consistent too with only a few black splotches around the almost seamless veins. The whole body of the cigar is wrapper incredible seamless and silky smooth leading up to a nice round double cap. The slender body is a hard box press making for a very comfortable fit in the hand and the mouth. The Eminence is polished off with the standard silver, black, and gray metallic Ezra Zion crest we have all become so familiar with. Like the other Ezra Zion Lines, the Eminence carries a small foot band that states “Eminence – Tercera Edition”. The cigar is extremely heavy and hard to the touch. There was absolutely no impurities or soft spots throughout the body of the cigar.

The wrapper on the Eminence smelled like straight up chocolate bar while I got a much more grainy, natural tobacco aroma from the foot of the cigar. The cap cut very clean and easy using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw produce a bit of spice and pepper with a whole ton of chocolate and tobacco flavors.

First Smoke: The Eminence starts out with some nice, gentle black pepper. Just enough to tease my tongue and lips. That quickly fades away and the cigar leaves me with some very strong espresso and cocoa notes followed up with a bit of sweetness, spice, and rich tobacco flavors. After about an inch some nice, sweet, woodsy flavors started to creep into the mixture. The draw on this cigar is ridiculous. I have had an excellent draw streak as of late and the Eminence adds to it by pumping out beautifully thick clouds of white, dense smoke with every puff. The burnline is a bit wavy, but nothing too concerning. The ash left behind is pretty flaky and bright white, mixed with very dark gray in color. It only held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: It’s taken me a while to get there, but the second half of the Eminence is still pouring out flavor. The main show still revolves around the coffee and chocolate flavors with a bit of spice and woodsyness but now some natural honey has began to show it’s face. This cigar burns incredibly slow. It took me almost an hour to get down to the halfway point. The burnline is still a bit wavy but I haven’t had to touch it up or relight it so I’m not complaining. The retrohale carries much more spice and pepper than I would have expected. It’s pretty sharp and I don’t find myself doing it too often. I am feeling absolutely no nicotine at this point.

Finish: A lot of the pepper that dropped off in the first few draws have made a subtle reappearance in the final third of the Eminence. Along with the pepper the flavors remained the same, lots of espresso and cocoa, spice, honey, sweetness and natural tobacco. I’m impressed that the boldness of the flavors have yet to drop off at all. The burnline remained it bit staggered from start to finish but I never once had to relight or touch up the cigar so I’m not complaining. I felt almost no nicotine as I closed out the final inch of the cigar. All in all it took me two hours to smoke this beast down to the nub. Seriously it burns so incredibly slow which adds a bit more to it’s value. I encountered absolutely no harshness whatsoever and the cigar finished perfectly smooth and creamy.

Overview: As I stated earlier, Ezra Zion has created some pretty large waves in the cigar community as of late, and the Eminence is the perfect example as to why. Jeremy and I have had multiple conversations as of late about just how great Mexican San Andreas is as a wrapper when it is blended correctly, and that’s exactly what these boys did with the Eminence. They created a bold, flavorful experience leading off with great maduro flavors followed up with some awesome sweetness which then evens out to finish off creamy and smooth. You can’t really ask for much more in terms of experience. The construction was on point, and the price is within reason. Given, it is a bit on the pricey side I would gladly pay the coin to add a few more of these into my rotation.

Pairing: Ballast Point’s Victory at Sea is famous for being on of the only American Porters to ever be ranked 100 on beerAdvocate. Aside from that, it’s a damn good beer. Victory at Sea is brewed at the Ballast Point Brewing Company in San Diego, California. It’s a 10% ABV Imperial Porter with Coffee and Vanilla added. What I like so much about this beer is most brews that add coffee lean on the coffee as the source of flavor making each beer eerily similar in strong coffee tastes. Instead, Victory at Sea showcases a more mild coffee leaning more heavily on the Vanilla as a source of flavor creating a very sweet, very creamy experience. Other flavors include some sharp spice, roasted malt and a slightly bitter finish. The vanilla, coffee and spice paired up so well with the spice, coffee, and chocolate from the Eminence creating an incredible smoking experience.

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